It will certainly be a pleasure for me and my colleagues to attend the upcoming UMA Motorcoach Expo 2008 in San Francisco.

As you may be aware, the National Tour Association and UMA recently announced a partnership in which the UMA Expo will feature an NTA Destination and Attractions Avenue, while the UMA will coordinate the motorcoach exhibit at NTA annual conventions, beginning next fall in Pittsburgh.

Obviously, the motorcoach is an extremely important component in the tour operator product and UMA's expertise will further enhance NTA operators' knowledge of new equipment to assist them in developing programs at NTA conventions and beyond.

In turn, NTA tour operators will be bringing their wide-ranging expertise on destinations and packaged travel to UMA. Their diverse products will be featured at UMA Expos, to ensure not only that UMA members will be a part of the NTA tour operator product, but also to give UMA motorcoach operators new and exciting travel programs, both domestically and internationally, to offer their own clientele.

This new partnership will profit not only members of NTA and UMA, but also the industry overall, so it is not surprising that the announcement of the new arrangement was met with much applause at the recent NTA Annual Convention in Kansas City.

But this new partnership holds a lot more potential than just opportunities for enhancing the revenues of UMA and NTA members alike.

I would suggest that any time two major associations can get together to discuss challenges to the fragmented U.S. travel and tourism industry, then work together to find solutions to those challenges, is unquestionably a very, very good thing.

One of the reasons our industry has historically been given short shrift inside the D.C. beltway is simply because we have not spoken there with one voice, a voice commensurate with the size and importance of what we do together for the nation's economy, as well as for the happiness and quality of life of our fellow citizens.

Currently, one of the topics of joint concern to both NTA and UMA members is the possibility that continued increases in the price of oil may prompt the necessity to add fuel surcharges that we'd all prefer to avoid.

Cruise lines have recently instituted "add-ons" of $5 or $6 per person per day, and airlines seem to increase their fares almost on a weekly basis. The U.S. Department of Transportation is already cracking down on tour operator pricing, specifically on how airline fuel surcharges are priced in tour advertisements.

So, should oil really reach $200 a barrel, or even progress steadily towards that mark, as some pundits have predicted, there's no question that the prices of petroleum products are going to impact all of our businesses.

One way or the other, its pretty clear that all segments of the industry are going to have to adapt to rising fuel prices. Indeed, we have been pleased to note that the subject has already been addressed in Bus and Motorcoach News.

Yet, the challenges brought on by the fluctuation of oil prices, both up and down, make it evident that tour operators and their motorcoach suppliers must work together to cushion the blow to the traveling public. This can be done by instituting surcharges fairly and communicating the message adequately to our customers.

For example, a $5 per passenger surcharge on a 2,500-passenger ship nets a cruise line an extra $87,500 for a typical 7-day cruise. Whether this amount is justified or not, it is already prompting questions from skeptical passengers, travel agents and industry observers alike.

NTA has already encouraged its members to let travelers know they should use a tour operator when making upcoming vacation plans to lessen the impact of rising fuel prices. We know NTA tour operators are able to offer savings to the traveler by contracting in bulk with transportation providers, hotels, attractions and other services.

In fact, we recently did a case study of group, versus individual pricing, that proves this point. According to the study, based on a six-day trip of the western United States, individuals on a 40-person trip would save $301 (or $50 a day) when traveling with a group instead of booking individually.

Also, NTA tour operators are able to tell clients the price of a trip prior to departure, giving travelers the ability to budget for their vacations more accurately.

However, it is clear that we do have a pressing challenge. To foster dialogue and jointly develop the best possible strategy to deal with this issue, I'd like to invite you personally to drop by the NTA booth (No. 1154) at the UMA Motorcoach Expo in San Francisco to meet me and members of our outstanding NTA staff.

Help get the partnership between our two organizations off to a flying start by giving us your input on how we can best address the topic of fuel surcharges. Together we can and will find some very helpful, useful strategies that all of us can employ ... and we'll be happy to report back to you (and to NTA members) our findings in the near future.

Bob Hoelscher is president of Fleming Tours Inc. in Cedar City, Utah. He holds CTP, CTC, CTIE and MCC professional designations.